Shades of White

A single rose given can mean more than a dozen. A single rose can touch you as no other flower can. What is the emotion you feel when you receive a single rose? White roses represent purity, chastity and innocence. They also convey spirituality. Pink roses convey emotions of admiration, joy and gratitude: Lavender, enchantment; Blue roses embody the desire for the unattainable. Whatever you feel when you cannot pull yourself from looking at that rose is what is true, in that moment.

francine stuart

As an artist, I have always been drawn to the essence of an emotion elicited by my subject. Recently, since moving to the gulf coast, I have been fascinated with the clouds that play along the coast as well as the variety of palms, flora and vegetation. Weather it is with a brush or a camera, the guidelines to my imagery remains the same. A well thought out composition and the direction of the light is essential. What is it that I can offer the viewer that draws them in, can cause them to recount a memory and speaks to them directly? Whether it’s a painting evoking the power of the thoroughbred racing with the heart of a champion; or an orchid that suggest human emotions, my paintings as well as my photographs are my way to illicit human emotions that we all relate to, feel and respond to in our own way. Figures twisted together, an American flag rendered with honor, passion and sorrow, how does a subject sit in the atmosphere…how does the light play upon the surface that makes it come alive. People tell me what they see and often it’s entirely different than what I was trying to express…and is it not the ultimate compliment for an artist to have a work speak directly and intimately to another?

Francine Stuart (née Costantini) was born in New York City and raised in the Catskills. She received her Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in studio art.